Chapter 3

Wanting a divorce just because your husband patted a coworker's backside sounded utterly absurd to anyone on the outside.

Only I knew the depth of the lingering, unmasked affection in both of their eyes at that moment.

I drove back alone to the apartment I had bought before we got married.

I took a sick week off to rest.

Not a single phone call or text message came from Mason.

Meanwhile, the company chat group occasionally popped up with juicy gossip.

"Hasn't Chloe been with the company for less than a year? Now she's suddenly handed 10% of the stock fund. Talk about an overnight promotion to upper management."

"Can't you read the writing on the wall yet? Didn't you see her swaying her hips into Mr. Miller's office every single day, just the two of them locked inside for two or three hours? What else do you think they're doing?"

"Who are you calling Chloe? It's President White now! Do you even want to keep your job here?"

"Weren't there always rumors about Manager Nora and Mr. Miller? Did they never hook up?"

"Oh, please. Would Mr. Miller ever look twice at Nora? That would be slumming it big time."

......

Back when Mason and I chose to keep our marriage a secret, he said the company was just starting out and announcing we were married would hurt business.

Now, looking back, it was just a convenient excuse to cultivate a single persona.

On the eighth day, which happened to be a Monday.

I went to work as usual.

I submitted my ready-and-waiting resignation letter to the HR department.

Director Chiang gave me a surprised look.

"Manager Nora, you're resigning? Does Mr. Miller know? You're not doing this just because of all the silly rumors going around the office lately, are you?"

"Everyone knows you're one of the company's founding veterans. I wouldn't dare approve this resignation without higher-level clearance."

Before Director Chiang could even finish his sentence, a colleague's cold sneer rang out from the doorway.

"Director Chiang, what's so hard about approving it? Our company has always run on performance metrics."

"If someone made a habit of stealing the hard-earned results of their coworkers like she does, I wouldn't even have the face to stay in the office. I would've packed my bags ages ago."

"What she stole was the West District Redevelopment proposal that President White spent three months drinking with clients to secure! Ask Nora—do you think her alcohol tolerance could ever pull that off?"

The proposal she was talking about? I was the one who had stayed up late night after night writing it.

And I was the one who had gotten up at dawn for three months straight delivering breakfast to the client just to lock down the deal.

It was only at the very final stretch that Mason had brought Chloe along to drink with the client twice.

Yet in the end, it was spun around to make it look like I had stolen Chloe's credit.

Swallowing down a mouthful of bitter injustice, I smiled and raised my head.

"Yep, you guys are spot on. As long as you're happy after I quit."

"Do me a favor and step aside. Good dogs don't block the path!"

"I just hope that after I leave, under Chloe's brilliant leadership, you all manage to land countless new projects—and watch your salaries skyrocket."

"Don't say I didn't warn you, though: being a mindless yes-man never ends well for anyone."

One colleague flew into a rage.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to in riddles? Who are you calling a yes-man? I've been sick of your face for ages! Just because you're a manager, what are you acting so high and mighty for?"

"Don't think I don't know how you used to hang around Mr. Miller's office before Chloe arrived. Did you really think he'd ever look at you? Keep dreaming."

Not content with running her mouth, she even lunged forward as if she wanted to put her hands on me.

Luckily, someone beside her held her back.

"Relax. If you hit her, what if she tries to scam you? Why waste time on trash like this? She can't do her job right, she's pushing an older age, and she doesn't even have a man. Once she leaves this company, she's going to get a heavy dose of real life."

Ignoring the yapping of these petty, power-tripping bullies,

I took my resignation letter and headed straight for Mason's office.

I pushed the door open and found Chloe lounging on the sofa, fast asleep with Mason's suit jacket draped over her.

The sound of the door woke her up with a start.

"Manager Nora, what brings you here?"

As the only subordinate personally mentored by Mason, Chloe was the sole person in the company who knew my true identity.

Mason's excuse had been that there was no need to hide it from Chloe.

Yet a year had passed, and at work, Chloe had never once treated me like a superior.

Instead, behind closed doors, she had provoked me both overtly and covertly on numerous occasions—though I had never bothered to stoop to her level.

My gaze swept over the jacket on the sofa, and I felt only a bitter wave of irony.

In the past, when I entered his office, even lingering for two more minutes was a luxury, let alone sleeping on his sofa and wrapping myself in his jacket.

He always said we needed to avoid gossip, that we were an old married couple and any business should be discussed at home.

He claimed he was afraid of hurting the company's image.

Now that Chloe had taken my place, he suddenly didn't care about office gossip anymore, nor did he feel any need to avoid suspicion.

When Mason saw me walk in, his expression instantly turned glacial.

"Manager Nora, don't you know how to knock before entering an office?"

"Get out! Knock and come in again."

Chloe sat up from the sofa and hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Don't be mad, Mr. Miller. Manager Nora must have been in a rush and just forgot to knock. Please don't hold it against her."

"If you make Manager Nora go back outside and knock all over again, how is she supposed to hold her head up high in the company from now on?"

I cast a cold, sideways glance at her, mentally labeling her a first-class pick-me green tea bitch.

"Since when is it your turn to speak in this room?"

Chloe's triumphant smirk froze on her face, and tears welled up instantly in her eyes.

I had to hand it to her—even professional actresses couldn't match her speed with artificial tear drops.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken out of turn. I'll leave right now."

Before she could even take a step, Mason violently grabbed her wrist.